Cory Booker Drops Out

“Democrat Cory Booker dropped out of the presidential race Monday.” (AP News)

The left notes Booker’s strengths and is surprised that he didn’t make more headway with voters.

“Booker is a mesmerizing orator — in my view, more compelling a speaker than any of the other Democrats running. He presents the story of his own life as an allegory of the best that this country can be. His destiny was changed by a white man, a volunteer lawyer, who helped his parents buy the home of their dreams at a time when New Jersey real estate agents steered African Americans away from white neighborhoods. Booker uses the word ‘grace’ frequently and calls for a ‘courageous empathy’…

“His problem was not that he lacked a solid operation. Booker had a talented campaign team, and a good organization, albeit one that ran out of money as his prospects dimmed. What was really misplaced, sadly, was faith that his uplifting message could be heard in the ugly moment we are in.” (Karen Tumulty, Washington Post)

The right is critical of Booker’s campaign strategy and the media’s focus on his race.

“Perhaps the most interesting thing to say about Booker’s campaign is that he’s a vivid illustration of how the traits that make a politician interesting for media profiles don’t always translate into actual support on the trail. Booker was the multiracial, vegan, former standout Stanford tight end who had been the subject of Oscar-nominated documentaries [and] generated tales of heroics as mayor of Newark…

“Despite all that, Booker could often come across as boring. His debate one-liners and applause lines were so perfectly rehearsed that they came across as cloying. His signature move in the debate was to wait until an argument between two other candidates had started to get interesting and impassioned, and then interject with a disapproving: ‘this kind of infighting is just what the Republicans want to see.’ But ‘this kind of infighting’ was also a serious disagreement about which policy direction was right for the Democratic party, which is precisely the sort of thing a presidential primary is supposed to sort out.”
(Jim Geraghty, National Review)